Page 1. Crofton Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 16 Oct 2012.

Present; Councillors; Chalkley, Bennett, Dart, Hewitt, Kimbley, Makin,

Schofield and Wilby.

Clerk to the Council; Barry Riley

In attendance; 5 members of the public

District Councillors; Cummings and Heptinstall.

Inspector Richard Clare and Colleague

10/091 Report from W.Y.Police Officers working on Crofton Safe Scheme PI Richard Clare, presented the Safe Scheme report covering September/October.

Members were informed that Admiral Taverns Ltd (owner of the Slipper public house), had applied for a 1 hour extension at the end of the day, on a Saturday only.

Cllr Kimbley had received an e-mail offering money, he asked for advice on what should be done to stop such practices. PI Clare suggested that any scams should be reported to the IT department of West Yorkshire Police.

Cllr Hewitt provided information to PI Clare about a vehicle whose occupants were acting suspiciously.

Cllr Chalkley asked if there was any information on an individual arrested at the Weavers public house with large amounts of cash on his being, PI Clare was not aware of the incident but knew that there had been drug activity in the area.

Cllr Dart raised concern about the reporting system used for the Safe Scheme report. An incident which had occurred at the shops on Ashdene Drive had been classed as a neighbour related incident as opposed to a drugs or alcohol rated incident. This could result in the incident not being dealt with appropriately. PI Clare stated that such anomalies would be resolved as there was to be a smaller specialist team to be appointed to deal with categorisation.

Cllr Chalkley requested that officers be appointed on Remembrance Sunday to oversee traffic control during the procession from the War Memorial. PI Clare duly noted the request and confirmed the time as being 11.30am.

10/092 Wakefield MDC District Councillors Report

District Councillors provided information to enquiries made individually by Parish Councillors, and gave an update on previous matters raised;

Further to the request from Cllr Ripley about attending to the trees on Doncaster Road (see minute 09/074), an inspection had been conducted, however because the trees are on private land no further action could be taken, it was also noted that the trees were self-pruning.

Metro had been contacted about the buses parking in front of the bungalows on Spring Lane (see minute 09/073), they were awaiting a response.

Confirmation had been received that work was to be carried out on the trees on Springhill Drive (see minute 04/002, 05/020 and 07/056).

The 20 mph speed sign near the junction of Hare Park Lane and High Street, had now been corrected and steps taken to permanently fix it.

The accident that had occurred at the Hare Park play area (see minute 09074), had been reported, they were awaiting a response.

The demolition of Hawthorn Court was to be completed by December steps were

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being taken to protect the land during this process, in addition to this information, Cllr Kimbley informed members all those living on the perimeter of the senior citizen flats had received a letter stating that the demolition of the flats will start 22 October.

Legal services were still involved with resolving the situation concerning the shops and garages on Ashdene Drive (see minute 07/056).

Cllr Dart was still wanting to arrange a visit to the former Bookmakers site to consider whether an improvement notice with a schedule of works (s215), could be served on the landlord.

Further to the information received from PI Clare (see minute 10/091), District Councillors were to submit an objection based on the previous history of the premises.

Cllr Cummings commented that although the site visit concerning Bedford Farm had not taken place that day, there was to be a meeting to discuss the application on Thursday 18 October (see minute 10/099).

Cllr Makin asked if Cllr Cummings was aware of the report received from WMDC Street Scene (which had in turn been forwarded to WMDC Rights of Way), concerning the problematic potholes on the Sidings cycle track approaching the Sports Pavilion. Cllr Cummings was not aware therefore it was agreed that the Clerk would forward the e-mail to District Councillors for comment.

10/093 Public Participation session

A resident had noted that a traffic survey connected to the Bedford Farm development had been carried out during the day, he felt that the results would be inaccurate as most of the traffic movement was early morning or in the evening.

A resident asked for more information with regard to the recent meeting about the Co-Operative mining scheme, residents were informed that it would be underground mining with the majority of coal being transported by rail rather than road. There was concern about further traffic impacting on the village.

Comment was made about school buses unloading at the side of the road as they could not access the road adjacent to the car park, due to congestion in the area.

A resident asked if the Parish Council could act to help alleviate parking congestion on Slack Lane, it was felt there was a risk to the safety of children using the Junior School. It was agreed to report the matter to the Police and to allocate hours from the Safe Scheme to solve the problem.

10/094 Apologies for absence

District Councillor; Manifield

Councillors; Ripley, Towns and Wrigg (see minute 10/108).

10/095 Declarations of Interest

None declared.

10/096 Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 September 2012, were signed as a true record by the Chairman.

10/097 Matters arising from previous minutes

The Clerk reported that;

An acknowledgement had been received about the provision of further allotment land at the Bedford Farm development.

WMDC Street Scene confirmed that they would carry out stencilling and request the

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Dog Wardens conduct a patrol outside the Royal Oak in an effort to deter dog fouling.

WMDC Highway Enforcement had confirmed that they had no authority to take action against the cars being parked outside the Post Office, as it was a police related matter.

WMDC Street Scene had confirmed that they would in future, use the Hare Park Lane entrance to the Sidings for playground maintenance, all other maintenance teams would use the Shay Lane entrance.

The residents had been written to and asked to prune the trees obstructing driving visibility when exiting Pontefract Road to turn left onto Doncaster Road. As yet there had been no reply.

10/098 Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Cllr Dart reported that;

She had given viewings to prospective hirers of the Centre.

The Choir had cancelled their weekly booking, their intention was to use the Centre on specific occasions.

She had obtained information regarding new legislation about the flying of flags, she would pass this to the Clerk.

Cllr Chalkley agreed to open and close the Centre for the forthcoming Police & Crime Commissioner elections on the 15 November.

Report Village Association

Cllr Kimbley reported that;

The alarm system was being checked the following day.

Report Allotments

Cllr Hewitt reported that;

Action had been taken by the tenant at Pontefract Road (see minute 09/080).

Report Parish Cemetery

After giving due consideration to the information received concerning safety issues, members agreed to accept the quote received for Tree pruning.

10/099 Traffic issues

Members were made aware of a traffic accident at the junction of Pontefract Road and

Weeland Road the previous Friday night with 4 people taken to hospital.
Cllr Makin spoke of his concerns about the congestion on the main access routes into the village and further attention would need to be paid to this problem.

Cllr Bennett informed members he had visited the new WMDC offices to obtain information on the Bedford Farm development. He also confirmed that the application was to be discussed by the Planning and Highways Committee on 18 October 2012 at 10.30 am.

Cllr Wilby had noted that mud deposited on the Highway was staying for lengthy periods, the Clerk would enquire with WMDC Highways Maintenance, if there was a procedure that should be adhered to in such circumstances.

10/100 Neighbourhood Plan

Cllr Chalkley and Cllr Bennett were to arrange a meeting to discuss the plan

10/101 Cleansing/Environment

Nothing to report.

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10/102 Planning Notifications

Members offered no comment to the applications received.

An objection had been submitted and acknowledged, against planning application Ref. No: 12/01748/FUL for 19 Weeland Road.

10/103 Financial matters

The Clerk having informed members of invoices to be paid received no objections,

Members were in agreement with the content of the monthly accounts.

10/104 Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received, in particular

Note 6; Cllr Wilby was given the information received from RAY.

10/105 Parish matters

Members discussed making improvements to the Copse area (between Slack Lane and Pinfold Drive) such as having it newly grassed. At present this was cut as part of the Groundworks contract several times a year. Members were asked for more ideas to improve the area, which would then be discussed at the next meeting.

Cllr Kimbley had noted that the No Entry sign and Zebra crossing opposite Lloyds Pharmacy on High Street were in need of repainting. The Clerk would contact Cllr Manifield who had previously arranged to have such work actioned.

Cllr Makin had noted that Crofton High School were using the Sidings football pitches, with access being gained by the gate in the recently installed fencing. Although there was no objection to the use of the pitches, it was thought that permission should have been sought to request their use. The Clerk was asked to contact the Headmaster, Jez Horsley, about the matter.

Cllr Chalkley voiced his disappointment that Crofton Academy had not informed the Parish Council of its intention to have a 6^th Form.

Cllr Bennett informed members that he was to have a meeting with Jez Horsley regarding Library provision and to discuss further the business plan, this was now arranged for Friday at 11.20am.

Cllr Kimbley informed members that the Fishing Club had engaged the services of a Surveyor to inspect the condition of the water in Coppers Lake.

The Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Building Services to arrange the Christmas Lights to be switched on. A proposed date was Tuesday 04 December at 7pm.

10/106 Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 20 November 2012 at 7pm in Crofton Parish Centre, High Street, Crofton.

10/107 Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

10/108 Matters to be discussed in private

Cllr Chalkley would speak to Cllr Wrigg and inform members of the outcome.

It was agreed to give a donation to the Royal British Legion for a memorial wreath.

Signed ……………………………… Date………………….. Chairman Crofton Parish Council